We're in yum-cha Siberia. In more ways than one. Not only is ours the last table before the toilets, stuck way down the back, far away from the windows (admittedly very few Chinese restaurants have windows, but when there are some, it'd be nice to be near them), but every time someone opens the loo doors we're hit by a blast of icy outside air.

It's not promising and within seconds of being shown to our seats we've already put a bid in to move. "Ten minutes," pleads the very affable maitre d', looking desperately around the crowded room. It's 1.30pm on a Sunday and this is yum-cha peak hour at Hung Cheung. Every table is full with Chinese and non-Chinese couples, groups and families. This is clearly a sought-after destination for a speedy weekend feed. While there are no lines stretching out into Marrickville Road (a quieter stretch just one block up from the shopping strip), there are few areas of empty tablecloth visible as we survey this busy, rather ramshackle, room on the lower floor of a slightly rundown corner block.

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"It's OK," says my elder daughter, shivering. She's just spotted a plate of deep-fried squid and she's worried we might miss out if we wait to be reseated. The offer of food is certainly a good sign. The other fear about being in yum-cha Siberia is that you risk missing out on things, a bit like standing too far away from the kitchen (or the bar) at a cocktail party and watching trays of canapes disappear before they reach your end of the room.

So we ask for the squid and tell our waiter we'll stay put, thanks. Within seconds of giving up our quest for more central seating we have tea and soft drinks and even cutlery for the kids, although they are jokingly threatened with having to pay extra next time if they don't learn to use chopsticks. Suddenly, too, there's a series of trays to choose from - prawn balls, beef balls, snow pea dumplings, tiny stuffed Chinese omelets - and most of our tablecloth disappears under a tower of bamboo baskets and little white plates.

There are no trolleys at Hung Cheung and none of those mini-stamps they use to mark off your order card. The waitresses don't wear much in the way of uniform and merely scrawl on the card with pens from their pockets. When it comes to getting the food out, however, they're definitely on the ball. Particularly in the greatest-hits department.

Part of the drama and suspense of yum cha is the desperate and sometimes fruitless wait for all-time favourites to appear, like cheong fan, those fabulous floppy steamed rice flour pancakes usually filled with prawns, beef or barbecued pork. But here, they arrive within minutes, revealed from under their tell-tale oval steel covers. Another must-have for the most junior member of our gang, char siew bao or barbecued pork buns, is offered only seconds later. Now, all we need to tick off from our wish list are steamed greens with oyster sauce and perhaps a plate of fried egg noodles And here they come. These guys must be clairvoyant. Any thought of Siberia is banished as the steamer baskets pile up and the splashes on the tablecloth increase.

Within half an hour we're replete. Our tea has been refilled constantly and without asking. We've even been offered extra oyster sauce for our steamed greens. And we haven't even had to wait for the obligatory custard (dan) tarts to go past. They appear as if on cue as we are pushing away our plates and sighing over the splotches on the tablecloth.

We settle the bill at the counter and we're out in the sunshine again, after one of the smoothest yum-cha experiences ever, notwithstanding the bumpy start. Something doesn't quite feel right though. After a little consultation we agree that, in fact, the cheong fan were a bit gluggy, the squid batter a touch heavy, the beef balls not entirely pleasant in their taste and texture. The custard tarts weren't wobbly and hot and the flaky pastry didn't quite melt on the tongue the way it sometimes can. Are we just being fussy in the absence of all the usual yum-cha angst? Hard to say. We'll just have to come back again, soon, for another round of greatest hits.